Karma: Law of Cause and Effect

Question — I would like to know more about karma, particularly
with regard to the idea that we are responsible for our circumstances
in life. Could we discuss this a little?

Comment — This is a subject that never loses interest.
You will remember how the New Testament expresses the thought:
"whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
That is just what karma means — it is a Sanskrit term
used in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy to signify 'action' followed
by reaction. Every religion has stressed the doctrine of moral
responsibility. The Moslems speak of Kismet as representing one's
individual portion or lot in life. The ancient Greeks had their
Nemesis or goddess of retributive justice; they also personified
past, present and future as the three Moirai or Spinners of Destiny.
So too those born in the Jewish faith are familiar with the Mosaic
injunction: "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."
All of these are different ways of describing the universal law
of harmony and balance, which insures that every cause set in
motion will, some time in the future, bring about its corresponding
effect.

What first appeals to one in the study of karma is the potency
of thought it stirs in us when we think of it in connection with
its companion doctrine of rebirth, and the part that each of us
has to play in the long drama of existence. The tendency to guard
against is that of narrowing our thinking down to 'me and my karma';
we can become so involved in our personal concerns that we fail
to view our day to day experiences practically and intelligently
in the light of the larger picture.

There are many aspects of karma, such as world, national and racial
karma, family as well as individual karma. We can even say there
is business karma, community karma, and so forth. In other words,
in every avenue of experience, from the individual to the international,
men are thinking and acting and hence setting certain causes in
motion which are bound to have their effects. So there is no end
to the ramifications of actions and reactions.

Question — Just how did all this begin?

Comment — To get a truer perspective of karma in relation
to the present, we have to go way back, to the time of the Garden
of Eden. We have been told that from the day when man tasted of
the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil he became
a self-conscious unit of the human kingdom, ethically responsible
for his every thought and act. If this is so, then from that point
on we have been the shapers of our character and the makers of
our destiny, and that divine law of sowing and reaping has allowed
us to create the very circumstances in which we find ourselves
today — whatever their quality.

It is regrettable, however, that we in the West have been trained
to think of the operation of this law with fear in our hearts:
"if you don't live right, God will punish you; if you do
wrong, you won't go to heaven." It is difficult to conceive
of any God watching each individual, ready to strike him down
if he errs; or if he is good, to reward him with specially contrived
favors. Man may have been "fearfully and wonderfully made,"
but it does not follow that he was made in fear. The curse of
dogmatic belief that we were born in sin has had effects both
far-reaching and devastating. Man is wonderfully made, and with
the qualities of the highest potential in his nature — qualities
founded on a divine trust and not a divine fear. The Almighty
Intelligence which pervades every minute atom of our universe
could not have allowed its essence to manifest without a complete
trust that each such atom in time would become as that from which
it sprang. To limit our concepts to a Deity who would on the one
hand personally supervise this whole evolutionary unfoldment,
individual by individual, and on the other hand relegate us to
'sin' at birth, is to degrade the true purpose of life.

There is a vast amount of hidden truth involved in the allegory
of the Fallen Angel. This story, so poorly conceived in the orthodox
interpretation, is told by many ancient peoples. In the Hindu
tradition it is symbolized by the descent of Manasaputras
or "Sons of Mind" — godlike beings who lighted
the fires of the human mind, much as in Greek mythology Prometheus
brought the "fire" of the gods to men. So in the Bible,
the casting out of Adam and Eve from Paradise signified humanity's
transition from a childlike phase of growth into a state of conscious
individual responsibility.

When we realize that you and I from that moment in our evolutionary
cycle have been on our own, we begin to get a fuller picture of
what this doctrine of karma implies. It means that we, being novices
in the use of our free will, made many, many blunders. And every
time we made a mistake we felt a reaction to it, attempting to
point our thought in the direction of not falling into the same
error again. We all learn soon enough on the physical plane, but
it takes us much longer to learn lessons on the moral and spiritual
levels. Nevertheless, nature's law of harmony operates always
to restore equilibrium, sometimes in quite a potent manner, but
it is in this way that gradually we attain discrimination.

It boils down to the simple fact that through the ages we have
accumulated a lot of effects of former actions so that we are
faced now with a collection of karmic responsibilities dating
from the far past, from which the immortal element in us has chosen
a certain portion for this lifetime. This portion is neither too
heavy nor too light, as perfect justice rules throughout the entire
cosmos.

People sometimes speak of good karma and bad karma, pleasant and
unpleasant. To me there is no such thing as good or bad karma,
for the results, the effects of our actions and thoughts, are
nothing more nor less than opportunity. That is the key. Karma
as opportunity gives everybody the same possibility of growth.
Now I don't consider that a heavy load to bear. All we need do
is temper our reactions to our circumstances and meet them with
the right attitude. But if we are foolish enough to feel revulsion
to the so-called unpleasant events of life, we extend the effects
of wrong causes further and further until finally we wake up and
realize that we are rebelling against nothing but ourselves.

It makes no difference how much suffering we may have in this
lifetime — our karma will never be more than we can handle. Point
out an individual with a heavy karmic load, and you will have
pointed out a strong soul. The man who is going through real torment
is a soul who has earned, by the strength of his inner aspiration,
the right to test the metal of himself to the core.

Question — If we knew what we had done in the past that
had brought on our present problems, wouldn't it be easier to
understand them? I know I am responsible for whatever comes to
me, both the pleasant and unpleasant things. But how can I handle
all of this karma in the right way?

Comment — If nature in its highest sense is harmonious
and kind and just, it seems to me it would not ask us to meet
a responsibility without providing a key or a guide, and especially
would this be true with one who is consciously aspiring. Nature
does provide that key, though we are having a hard time finding
it. But if we believe there cannot be a cause without an effect,
or an effect without a cause, we must believe that nothing happens
by chance. Every situation we are confronted with, then, is the
result of something we thought or did or participated in in the
past that has attracted to us the effects represented by the circumstances
in which we now find ourselves. Do we need to know the exact cause?
We cannot know it in detail, but we can and should try to discern
the quality of experience that brought about our present
situation.

At this stage of our growth, those who are actively trying to
improve their character, to self-direct their own evolution, are
beginning to sense the first faint glimmerings of a genuine intuition.
We are not anywhere near the flowering of our present racial cycle,
but we are at the same time being called upon to handle the early
pushings of the seed of intuition in our consciousness. Therefore,
when anyone begins to think about the doctrines of karma and reincarnation
he is compelled, sooner or later, to recognize that he has a definite
responsibility to meet intelligently the karma that is his. He
will have to learn how to meet it, how to listen to the
imploring of his immortal self, his intuition, if you please.
It is the immortal self that has selected the drama of this incarnation
in which he is the actor, and it is this higher element that is
endeavoring by and through the circumstances of life to guide
him to meet with a proper attitude the challenges of each day.

Thus in our struggles toward a fuller understanding, we begin
to realize we can develop the ability to read the unfolding karmic
script of our lives. When we work with this, then we find ourselves
better able to feel out the situations as they arise, and deal
with them more intelligently. We can think of it as a Book —
the Book of records as the Koran calls it — in which is inscribed
in its entirety our individual life. Each of our days, representing
a page of so-called karmic merit and demerit, will contain the
signposts, the impellings and repellings, the conscience knocks,
and even the intuitions that are there to be utilized. Once we
are able even slightly to read the daily script of our experiences,
we realize something else: that there is a direct relation between
the quality of a reaction and the quality of action that brought
it into being. This is not going to be spelled out, but if we
keep in mind that our major task in the long run is to unfold
fully the divine values within us, we will know that the process
of transmuting the lower by the higher self must be accompanied
by a continued effort to improve the quality of our attitude in
every circumstance.

Question — In trying to improve our attitude toward
our own karma, shouldn't we also take into account the karma of
those around us? I am thinking especially of family and national
karma.

Comment — If we believe in the natural working of this
law, then those we meet each day we meet by karma, and either
we receive something from them or they receive something from
us, as the result of that contact. Neither party may be aware
of any conscious exchange. It happens as simply as breathing,
and may have only an infinitesimal effect, but all of it together
helps make up the karmic balance, the karmic total of the day.
When we maintain the best inner attitude we can, keeping our personal
will as the servant, allowing the spiritual will or the intuition
to have as free rein as possible, we begin to recognize what the
other person has contributed toward the expansive elements available
to us at any time.

Question — But isn't it presumptuous to assume that
we could deliberately have any effect on the karma of nations?
We are doing very well, aren't we, if we can deal intelligently
with our personal lives?

Comment — Most of us cannot directly do anything about
national or world karma. Nevertheless, we are part of humanity,
and as we strengthen our character, so will our nation and the
world at large benefit. The basic key is duty: we fulfill our
destiny best by doing the duties that lie immediately before us.
Should it happen that you or I by natural karma find ourselves
a member of Congress or Parliament, then we would have the opportunity
to contribute more potently and directly to our respective countries.
What matters most is where we are today and what we are doing
about it, for it is the quality of our thoughts and actions that
will condition our influence in the future.

Don't you see what a marvelous opportunity we have? Reacting creatively
and with a will to correct past errors, we will inevitably impress
upon the consciousness of our fellowmen the quality of our endeavor
and by so much give them added courage. Without fear but with
full trust we can move forward from where we are, knowing that
our right thoughts and right actions will in time have their due
effects. It makes each moment an opportunity — a challenging
opportunity to fulfill our destined responsibilities, not alone
to ourselves but to all mankind.